~ Bookends ~
Halloween Edition
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Ghost Hunt
3. The Kiss
When Naru finally made an appearance, he took one look at the happily laughing, chatting, eating crowd and fled back upstairs, scowling as children ran about getting underfoot.
"Naru-chan!"
Madoka was waving at him eagerly as she tried to make her way over two children who were running away from Masako giggling "jigokou shoujou!". As it stood, Madoka on a normal day did not bode well, and Madoka on Halloween… He shuddered and quickly pretended not to have seen her. Or Masako, who was trying to catch his eye.
"Naru! Quit pretending not to have seen me! How many times have I told you that it's not good manners avoiding people in a social setting?"
Cornered, he heaved a defeated sigh. "What do you want?"
She clapped her hands in delight. "Come on. There's your favourite mango pudding dessert!"
Naru was about to point out that he in fact did not enjoy pudding of any kind when he spotted Mai. He froze on the spot, the sarcastic retort he had in mind momentarily forgotten.
"That's a cute costume you have there, miss. Did you make it?"
"Oh, I didn't. I'm not that good at this kind of thing…" the brown haired bunny eared girl said with a laugh. So those were the black fluffy things sticking out of her coat pocket... The young man grinned and leaned rakishly against the wall.
"Well, you look absolutely adorable in it. If I had known that the library was staffed by such a lovely lady as you, I would've been here everyday." Naru winced. This-this flirt had absolutely no style at all, if his speech, posture, pink and white chequered coat and yellow wig were anything to go by.
Mai, however, looked pleased. "I'm really only a volunteer," she explained. "Would you like to try some of the strawberry pudding? I hear they're really good..." she said as she reached for a plate.
Madoka smirked behind Naru's back. She stepped back smoothly, letting her superior have the field. Mai, whose back they were facing, had not immediately noticed them as they approached, Madoka stealthily, Naru striding forward grimly. The young man had however, and he sweatdropped when Naru stared at him stonily from under his spectacles. Madoka looked at her watch.
"Oh, look at the time! It looks as though I've to start the first round of story telling sessions," she said, giving him an innocent smile.
He glared at her.
"Help yourself, yeah?" With another cheery wave, Madoka disappeared into the crowd.
Without anything else delaying him, he strode up to the couple. "Excuse me," he began in freezing tones. "May I borrow my girlfriend for a second?"
Mai blushed, embarrassed. "Naru! What are you doing?" she hissed.
"John here can assist you if you have any queries," he added as, conveniently, the Australian librarian had walked up.
"What?" John (who was in a pirate costume) looked baffled as Naru pushed two cups of mango pudding at them. "Enjoy the party," he said as he towed the erstwhile girl away.
Outside, Mai drank in the crisp autumn air. "It's nice out here," she said as they sat on a stone bench in the library's open courtyard.
"It's not too cold for you?" Naru asked eyeing her semi-translucent black stockings as he took off his glasses.
She smiled. "Not really. I'm still warm from being inside all morning."
The fountain in the middle of the empty square burbled gently. It was much quieter than it had been inside. Overhead, the afternoon sun filtered warmly through the rust red and yellows leaves of the trees framing the square. Mai leaned comfortably against his shoulder, smiling slightly when he didn't move away.
"So, since when did I become your girlfriend?"
She could feel him smile above her. "Officially speaking, since just now."
Mai pouted. "Huh! To you maybe, but I don't think I've heard you actually ask for my consent."
"Would you like me to now? I should warn you first that I won't take no for an answer," he replied smoothly, turning so that he could face her.
Mai rolled her eyes playfully. "You narcissist," she grinned. "What if I did?"
Naru raised an eyebrow.
"Then I'll have to show you what you'll be missing out if you do," he said as he leaned in and kissed her.
Author notes: One last chapter, or rather epilogue after this. Thank you Flamegirl5500, AlexaTarot, show. me. the. stars., krisaku, Ariana Taniyama, scaryD, Somnium Mos and xxAngelicDreams for your reviews!
Have a Happy Halloween!
Ariana Taniyama: Now you've got me shuddering at the image of Yasuhara in a thong. XD But yeah... roller blades I can totally see.
Somnium Mos: Like Haruhi's! Hence the multiple male gazes.
krisaku: let's just say they were both in denial up till this chapter. lol